Private lessons in wedding waltz and other dances About private lessons  Time, place and fees   How to book Before the first lesson Prepare for the first lesson What I usually teach Final preparations       The main focus for my dance school Nöjesdansakuten is to give private lessons in dancing for couples and small groups in Gothenburg. Most of the pages on the website is in Swedish, but below are some short information in English. Just write to me and ask if you need further clarifications. You can also find information in English about different dances with some music tips here (see right-hand side of the pages). About private lessions in dancing I mainly give lessons in wedding waltz, but also in foxtrot and bugg. I can also give lessons in the basics of a few more ballroom and folk dances. Just ask if you are curious. Note that I only give lessons to couples and small groups (preferably not more than at most three couples) and not to singles. If you are single and want to have a lesson, please bring a friend you can dance with. Most wedding couples book 1-3 lessons, the number usually depending on the length of each lesson, their ambition with the dance and how long before the wedding they start practising. If you are happy with a simple dance, that will just get you around the floor while looking as good as possible, if your wedding is very soon or if you are willing to practise a lot on your own, you can very well make do with just one lesson (even a short one). If you, on the other hand, want something more or just want more teacher-supervised practise, two or three lessons may be a better option. If you need more lesson time, you are of course welcome to book it as long as I have time available. Time, place and fees You can choose between the following length of the lessons: 1 hour (300 SEK/couple), 1,5 hour (400 SEK/couple), 2 hours (500 SEK/couple). I'm available for booking on most weekdays (if I'm not already booked for something) after 17.00 and on some weekends. Just write to me and ask. I offer discounts if you take more than three (medium or long) lessons (ask me for details), and if you are two couples booking and sharing a lesson. The lessons take place either at your place (or a place you have access to) or in my home in Västra Frölunda (near Frölunda torg), Gothenburg. A fee for public transport may be added to the fee for the lesson, if your place requires me to travel more than a couple of kilometres. As for your information, I follow the General data protection regulation (GDPR) and will not save any personal information any longer than necessary for my bookkeeping. How to book a lesson Write an email to me at akuten@nojesdans.se. If you haven't heard anything in two days, you can also try to reach me by my private email or by phone/SMS (0731-589659). It happens that emails end up in the spamfolder and I sometimes forget to check it often enough. If you need to cancel a lesson, you can do that until the start of the lesson without any extra fee. Before the first lesson There are a few things you need to consider before the first lesson. Here are things I usually ask: Have any of you danced any waltz (if you are taking a waltz lesson that is) before and if so, which kind? It may be a lot easier to repeat and build on old skills rather than to learn new, especially if you don't have much time to practise. Have you got ideas or request about music for the wedding dance? If you have not decided yet - wait until after the first lesson. It is usually much easier to find a suitable song when you have started and know more about how fast you want to dance (it's easier to find a song in the tempo you find easiest to dance in, rather than you having to adjust to a more difficult tempo).  If you havn't choosen a song, you can find inspiration on my music page when you get that far. Here I have collected a long list of waltz music, ranged by tempo with the slowest first, and with links to youtube (on this page). All songs I use in the lessons can be found in the list, in case you come across a good song then. The list may also be useful to find waltzes for practice (to get some variation) and if you want to have more waltzes during the wedding, for exampel after your own dance. Here is also a short list of waltzes that usually are easy to practise to. If you want something else than waltz, you can check my pages with information and music tips for other dances. If you have a song you want to dance to, you must first make sure it's suitable for waltz and then that you can find the beats in it. Some couples have choosen to learn foxtrot instead, when the song in question was not suitable for waltz and they didn't want to change it. A good rule to remember is also that most couples think the dancing gets more difficult the quicker the music is, especially if you are a total beginner. Dancing to quick musik usually also require more floor space than dancing to slow music. If you have a song you already have decided on, I want to know which is it a few days before the lesson. In that way I can check the song to make sure it will work and prepare the lesson after it. Do you have any request of how you want your waltz to look? I don't teach any choreography, but if you have ideas I can help you to practise them. Just remember that the more things you add in the dance, the more practise you will need to make it work. To get more help with choreography you can come to me and learn the basics and then book private lessons at one of the large dancing schools in town. They are more expensive, but have more experience with teaching choreograhy and more floor space for dancing. Prepare for the first lesson A few practical things that is good to remember before we meet for the first lesson: Shoes and clothes. Your can dance in shoes, in socks or barefoot. If you come to my place you can bring shoes if they are clean under and don't leave marks on wooden floors. It's easy to accidentally step on each others toes in the beginning and therefore it's good to avoid shoes with an open toe. For the same reason, avoid having only one of you in shoes. Also, save the nice wedding shoes for later practise to spare them from damage. You don't need any particular clothing for the lesson, just avoid anything that restricts your movements and remember that you will most likely get warm while practising. If you have a choosen song, the best way to prepare is to make yourself familiar with the song. By that I don't just mean to listen to it, but to purposefully try to find the beats all the way through the song, or at least for the part you intend to dance to. If you don't hear the beats it will probably be easier after the first lesson so don't panic (yet). Decide if you want to play the waltz from a recording on the wedding, or if you will have an orchestra playing it. In the latter case, you should ask early on what waltzes they play and also if they can adjust the tempo of the song if you wish. If you already know which waltzes they play, we can try to use the recorded versions of them in the lessons. What I usually teach As for waltz lessons, I usually teach a simplified version of Viennese waltz that we dance to slower music. Viennese waltz has easier steps and figures than the modern/slow/still waltz but is, as a competition dance, danced to very quick music (around 60 BPM, which means three steps/second). To dance this slower will not only make it easier for you, but give you more time to focus on hold, posture and other things that make the dance look good, and you will also not get all sweaty on your wedding. A good rule to remember is also that quicker music usually requires more space. If you have a small space to dance on, it's usually best to stick with slow(er) music. If you really want to dance a proper Viennese waltz, you can still do so, but just by choosing music that is a bit slower than the usual Viennese waltz-music it will get a bit easier. In the lessons, I usually start with the very basics and then build the dance up by adding small elements one at a time until you feel happy with the dance. I focus more on how you can make the dance look good, than on how you make it technically correct. If you can relax and have fun while you dance, it will be a much nicer experience, both to you and to your audience. To frame the dance in a nice way, I also usually show you an example of an entrance with a nice invitation to dance, and ways to finish the dance in a nice way. I try my best to adjust the lessons after you, and you are, of course, welcome to request what and how you want to learn also during the lessons. You can also request certain waltz songs that you want to try and I'll add them when we get to that tempo. Just note, that if they are not in my list, I need to know which songs a few days in advance so I can check and add them to my playlist. Final preparations for the wedding dance Dance everything through, with entrance, finish, choreographed parts or whatever you have added, and make sure you don't get stuck anywhere. Record yourself with a camera and check how it looks in case you spot something you can easily fix. If you have the possibility to visit the venue before, do a test dance there to check how the space feels and get adjusted to the size of the space available. When you are at the venue, remember to also check the floor with the shoes you will dance in. If the floor is very slippery or very rough, you will need to adjust the length of your steps to not fall over. Make sure that if you use recorded music, you have someone who can turn the music down on your signal. In that way, you don't have to dance a whole song and also don't need to be restricted to a time limit. Usually, 1,5-2 minutes of dancing should be enough. Decide if you want the audience to join in while you are dancing or not, and make sure they get to know that. If you want to finish your part first, you can choose another waltz that will be played right after yours and for everyone else. It's your wedding so you decide how you want it, just make sure that the key people attending knows about it. Have fun! Welcome with your requests! Marika

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